Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW) Shares Purchased by Sterling Capital Management LLC

Sterling Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Smurfit Westrock Ltd (NYSE:SW - Free Report) by 42.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 34,738 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 10,312 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC's holdings in Smurfit Westrock were worth $1,871,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of SW. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in Smurfit Westrock in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Versant Capital Management Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Smurfit Westrock during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its holdings in shares of Smurfit Westrock by 117.7% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 516 shares of the company's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 279 shares during the last quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators purchased a new position in Smurfit Westrock in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Spire Wealth Management bought a new stake in Smurfit Westrock during the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Institutional investors own 83.38% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Ken Bowles sold 24,225 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.06, for a total transaction of $1,333,828.50. Following the sale, the insider now owns 111,458 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,136,877.48. This trade represents a 17.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Alvaro Henao sold 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.90, for a total value of $215,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 44,361 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,391,057.90. The trade was a 8.27 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.49% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Smurfit Westrock from $66.00 to $64.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Smurfit Westrock from $61.00 to $62.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Smurfit Westrock from $53.00 to $43.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Truist Financial began coverage on shares of Smurfit Westrock in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. They set a "buy" rating and a $62.00 price objective on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Smurfit Westrock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $60.00.

Smurfit Westrock Stock Up 1.4 %

Smurfit Westrock stock traded up $0.58 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $41.35. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,693,719 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,781,294. Smurfit Westrock Ltd has a 52-week low of $37.01 and a 52-week high of $56.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 75.19 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 0.89. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $46.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $49.93.

Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.67 by ($0.33). Smurfit Westrock had a return on equity of 6.16% and a net margin of 0.63%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Smurfit Westrock Ltd will post 3.25 EPS for the current year.

Smurfit Westrock Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $0.4308 per share. This is an increase from Smurfit Westrock's previous quarterly dividend of $0.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.17%. Smurfit Westrock's payout ratio is 312.73%.

About Smurfit Westrock

Smurfit Westrock Plc, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures, distributes, and sells containerboard, corrugated containers, and other paper-based packaging products in Ireland and internationally. The company produces containerboard that it converts into corrugated containers or sells to third parties, as well as produces other types of paper, such as consumer packaging board, sack paper, graphic paper, solid board and graphic board, and other paper-based packaging products, such as consumer packaging, solid board packaging, paper sacks, and other packaging products, including bag-in-box.